Equipment Manager Marc Lofchie, with the help of sophomores Hannah Timmermann and Stephanie Gaehde, has recently digitized the athletic equipment system, changing the uniform process for athletic teams.

This past winter, Lofchie took on the difficult task of creating a new equipment system, which he said has already failed once.

“I have a helper that works for me full time, Hannah Timmermann and she is unreal. You know the barcodes, she will enter every single one of those things… instantaneous, she’s like a machine,” Lofchie said.

Timmerman was on his softball team at the time when she started working for Lofchie. Her teammate, Stephanie Gaehde, also tagged along.

“He [Lofchie] just asked me for a day one time, and I just did it and it was easy and I got to hang out with Mr. Lofchie and Hannah. That was fun because he was my coach at the time and then I just continued to go there” Gaehde said.

According to Lofchie, the equipment system which was created after the winter season in time for the spring season, is very different this year.

“Everything is now paperless. It goes on the computer, it goes off the computer, it keeps inventory,” Lofchie said.

This is a big change from past years, when the uniform process was all handwritten and athletes filled out new equipment forms each season.

“It was all paper, so anybody that plays sports knows that they had to come in, write their name down, and write every single piece of equipment they took,” Timmerman said.

According to Lofchie, the new system will keep track of every piece of equipment that is used.

“Everything these kids get in all sports, whether it’s a jersey or a sweatsuit or whatever, has a number that we are putting on, a bar code, an actual cloth label,” Lofchie said. “Kids should bring their photo ID card whenever they come to this room and then all we have to do is scan it.”

Timmermann added that the air-tight system will leave less room for mistakes or misplaced items.

“You scan everything out so there’s no way for anybody to say ‘Oh, I didn’t get that’ because I have to physically use a scanner and scan it out to you specifically,” Timmerman said.

According to Timmerman, teams that have already used the system found it to be a huge success.

“We had the entire lacrosse team and that was about 36 people, and they were in and out in about 30 minutes. Before it would probably take an hour,” Timmerman said.

In the next few weeks, the new process will be utilized by students trying out for the fourteen spring sports.

Clasby Chope can be contacted at [email protected].